DTM 2012: BMW wins their first DTM race in 20 years at the Lausitzring, Spengler and Farfus finish 1st and 3rd - Full Results

DTM 2012: BMW wins their first DTM race in 20 years at the Lausitzring, Spengler and Farfus finish 1st and 3rd - Full Results

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DTM 2012: BMW wins their first DTM race in 20 years at the Lausitzring, Spengler and Farfus finish 1st and 3rd - Full Results

BMW taking the first and second spots in qualifying played a huge role in this race. Spengler took the pole and Augusto Farfus qualified in second allowing a dominating start for BMW. Spengler and Farfus were able to finish 1st and 3rd respectively as a result of their starting positions on the tight Lausitzring not allowing the competition to overtake them. Only Gary Paffett from Mercedes managed to pass Farfus securing a second place finish.

A huge win for BMW who is at a disadvantage compared to Audi and Mercedes fielding two fewer cars and also supposedly running a heavier and less powerful vehicle. A great victory and we hope BMW is able to maintain their momentum into the next race on May 20th at Brands Hatch in the UK.

Bruno Spengler (car number 7, BMW Team Schnitzer, 1st place): “Today is a dream come true for me. I am so happy I just want to give everyone at BMW Team Schnitzer a big hug. That was a perfect weekend for me: the first DTM pole position for BMW for 20 years, then the first victory since 1992. This is one of the best days of my life. The race was unbelievable. We had a really tough battle with the Mercedes drivers, and did everything in our power to stay in front of them. Thankfully it worked. The final lap was the longest of my career. My team and I did not put a foot wrong today. That was definitely the crucial factor. One thing is certain: it is time for a celebration.”

Augusto Farfus (car number 16, BMW Team RBM, 3rd place): “Congratulations to BMW for doing a great job and giving us this car. This is only my second DTM race and we are a very young team in the series. That makes it all the more amazing to finish on the podium at the second race. I feel really great. I had a difficult time in Hockenheim, but we have recovered brilliantly. One week later, this was a very different performance. I am very happy to be able to bring the car to the finish without any mistakes even though I had Jamie Green pushing me for a lot of laps. But I just made sure I stayed calm and made no mistakes. Thanks also to BMW Team RBM for two fantastic pit stops.”

Gary Paffett (THOMAS SABO Mercedes AMG C-Coupé), Second: "It's such a pity. My THOMAS SABO Mercedes AMG C-Coupé had enough speed to win again today. I was just a bit too far behind at the pit-stop. Having said that, my car was really quick and had a brilliant set-up, a tribute to the team. I was also so close to Bruno Spengler's car that I was losing a bit of down force. However, I did give it my all and being second on the podium within the space of a week is a great result for us, especially after the win in the opening race.“

Jamie Green (Mercedes AMG C-Coupé), Fourth: "My Mercedes-AMG C-Coupé was just terrific today. Augusto Farfus drove a fantastic race. I was behind him most of the time, but despite the great pace of my car, I couldn’t get past. Now the focus of my attention has to be on my home race at Brands Hatch where I’m hoping to get back on the podium again."

BMW Motorsport director Jens Marquardt: “Most certainly, this is a very special moment which we didn’t expect this way. This fantastic victory by Bruno Spengler is the crown on a week, which was quite something. Firstly, we had our strong comeback weekend at Hockenheim, then our maiden pole-position yesterday and today, in only our second race, already the first victory in our new DTM era. This is fantastic, simply unbelievable, absolutely awesome!”

Mercedes-Benz head of motorsport Norbert Haug: “We were very close, our drivers were bumper-to-bumper with the opposition. The important thing is that the DTM is exciting. The three brands are providing great motorsport. Now, we have seen two races with two different winners. Let’s wait and see what it will be like at Brands Hatch, perhaps we will see the third there. Scoring points has never been more difficult in DTM history.”

Audi head of motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich: “Of course, we can’t be happy with this result, because this time again, we couldn’t get the tyres on our cars to work well in the race. Today, Mattias Ekström and Timo Scheider have made the best of their starting grid positions that weren’t optimal and have made up several places, at times with very good lap times. Nevertheless, we have to understand our A5 better and use the full potential. We will work hard on that.”

Why does the C-Class have more power and why does the M3 have more weight? It makes no sense BMW would sandbag themselves.

These are the "official" figures. Look how BMW managed to stay well ahead of Mercedes on the straights. Clearly the engine has more output than claimed on the website.

Also, a 100kg difference is HUGE in the world of racing and BMW would never be able to keep the pace if the cars were indeed that heavy. For example, in some racing series (older DTM comes to mind) the winning cars were/are awarded a weight penalty for the next race. This was usually done in 10kg (!) increments, which shows how much 100kg would affect the car's speed.

These are the "official" figures. Look how BMW managed to stay well ahead of Mercedes on the straights. Clearly the engine has more output than claimed on the website.

Also, a 100kg difference is HUGE in the world of racing and BMW would never be able to keep the pace if the cars were indeed that heavy. For example, in some racing series (older DTM comes to mind) the winning cars were/are awarded a weight penalty for the next race. This was usually done in 10kg (!) increments, which shows how much 100kg would affect the car's speed.

Although the AMG's appear to be the quicker cars...so far. If Paffett could have got around Spengler in the pits, I believe he would have drove away from Spengler. Paffett was on his ass the entire race. In the first race Paffet and Green with clear track gaped 3rd by over 20 seconds.

The speed difference gets bigger the further the race progresses.
In the start everyone has full tanks, when they get empty the speed of the Mercs shows more and they become much faster.
The lausitzring is just a very difficult circuit to overtake someone.
Mercedes would be way ahead if they would still allow refueling.

As far as I know only the engines form Audi and Mercedes came along to the 2012 car.
Cars are wider then last years car, less downforce, more mechanical grip (wider tires, Hankook rubber trying to do the F1 trick), shared aerodynamical components (rear wing is the same for all teams), shared monocoque.
They had an advantage over BMW, but all teams had to do major work to get the 2012 cars on track.
BMW just also had to set up a production line to make parts for this.
To get all 6 cars ready for qualifying saturday and the race yesterday they had to seriously work overtime to producee the parts after the crashes of last week.
That is why they have only 6 cars in competition this year. They do not have the capacity to produce all spare parts in case of a pile-up...

As far as I know only the engines form Audi and Mercedes came along to the 2012 car.
Cars are wider then last years car, less downforce, more mechanical grip (wider tires, Hankook rubber trying to do the F1 trick), shared aerodynamical components (rear wing is the same for all teams), shared monocoque.
They had an advantage over BMW, but all teams had to do major work to get the 2012 cars on track.
BMW just also had to set up a production line to make parts for this.
To get all 6 cars ready for qualifying saturday and the race yesterday they had to seriously work overtime to producee the parts after the crashes of last week.
That is why they have only 6 cars in competition this year. They do not have the capacity to produce all spare parts in case of a pile-up...